THROUGHOUT THE 2022 spring semester, cleaners and janitors at Yonsei University could be seen wearing bright red vests emblazoned with slogans emphasizing workers’ rights. At protests held in Sinchon, workers also held up signs reading, "Yonsei University, the real boss, should be responsible," and "We demand that the Dean stop blaming COVID-19 and start taking accountability." Despite months of attempted negotiations, however, an agreement between the two parties has yet to be reached.

A decade-long deadlock

   The conflict between unions and schools is a recurring one, as unions attempt to negotiate wages on a yearly basis. The initial round of wage negotiations took place in October, 2010 when the workers first unionized. Since changes in payment are reflected at the beginning of each year, negotiations that led to the current 2022 protests trace back to November, 2021.

   Three key groups of irregular workers are participating in the ongoing protests: cleaners, janitors, and parking lot employees. Due to its large campus size, over 400 employees work at Yonsei University, most of them unionized. Among the unionized irregular workers, over 80% belong to the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), also known as Minju-nochong. The Yonsei Annals interviewed organizer Son Seung-hwan from the KCTU Seoul Public Service Union. Son stated, "Because the school is reluctant to make changes, stronger organizing and advocacy strategies are required."

   Yonsei University hires its irregular workers indirectly, paying private service companies to recruit workers the school needs. Currently, the school is partnered with service companies Daejoo HR and Chungwoo TS. Albeit the indirect employment system, workers' wages, the scope of work, and hours are ultimately determined by Yonsei University, not the company. For this reason, Son described Yonsei University as the "real boss" and described the school's hiring practice as a "means of avoiding direct responsibility" despite "the inconvenience of having to pay additional management fees when partnering with service companies." Under such circumstances, the conflicts of interest have persisted for over a decade.

The workers’ demands

   The workers' demand is threefold: a ₩400 increase in hourly wages, filling in vacancies of retired workers, and the improvement of workplace facilities. The minimum wage for 2022 was set at ₩9,160, a ₩440 increase from 2021 (₩8,720). Thus, workers demanded a matched ₩440 increase in their 2022 hourly wages but lowered the request to ₩400 upon failed negotiations; the current hourly wage for workers is ₩30 more than the minimum wage. 

   Moreover, workers are demanding that the university administration fills in vacancies left by retired employees. To reduce the cost of wage payment, the school has avoided actively filling in vacancies; for instance, if three different janitors work on the 1st to 3rd floors of a building and the employee from the 2nd floor retires, the remaining two workers would be required to fulfill the duties of the retired worker. According to Son, this practice of increasing labor intensity without additional employment has been occurring since 2018. 

   Lastly, workers are calling for an improvement of labor facilities, such as the installation of shower rooms. "Even during cold winters, workers sweat a lot given the nature of the work. Without accessible shower rooms, workers have no choice but to wait for the sweat to dry off," stated Son. While Yonsei has been requesting that unions negotiate such demands with the service companies, service companies declined to take responsibility, stating that they have no claim over the school property and consequently lack control over facility installments. To resolve this deadlock, workers are proposing that the school and service company create a joint consultative body to facilitate discussions. However, the school turned down this proposal as it "effectively removes the buffer role of service companies."

Yonsei University’s response

   The school pinpointed the structural problem in the workers' protests. Despite representing workers from 13 different schools and 16 different service companies, the KCTU Seoul Public Service Union relies on a collective bargaining process with uniform demands. Such unilateral measures disregard the varying hourly wages of individual workers, varying processes of negotiation, and varying financial conditions of each workplace. Ultimately, such "one-size-fits-all" demands make negotiations more challenging; for example, for smaller universities with fewer employees, raising the hourly wage does not significantly impact school expenditures. However, for institutions with over 400 employees, such as Yonsei University, even a small wage increase of ₩100 would affect the school budget by ₩200 million. In an interview with the Annals, Yonsei University Office of General Affairs Chairperson Seo Ki-Hwan stated, "Over the past ten years, workers' wages have been increased by 2.6 times. However, neither Yonsei University's income nor the tuition has increased that significantly. If anything, the school's financial situation is rapidly deteriorating due to COVID-19."

   In terms of filling in spots of retired employees, Yonsei University argues that the school has simply been transitioning into an automated security system requiring less manpower. Around six years ago, the school invested over ₩10 billion to renovate its security facilities—all buildings located within the school are equipped with CCTVs, card key entry systems, emergency call systems, motion recognition cameras, and vehicle tracking systems. "No other university in the country is as well-equipped as Yonsei University. Machines replacing people has already been proven to be safer for schools and students," stated Seo. For instance, upon the notification of a fire signal, all doors within the school swing open automatically for evacuation, and a fire truck is dispatched immediately; previously, janitors had to manually locate the fire and open every door. According to Seo, crimes on campus spanning from sexual misconduct to pickpocketing have also dramatically decreased thanks to this advanced security system.

   Regarding improved labor facilities, Seo stated, "It is true that existing shower rooms are not sufficient. However, workers can still take a shower if they really want to," since there is a unisex workers' shower room in the basement of the school's Baekyang Nuri. Moreover, the school emphasized that it already suffers from a lack of space, as Yonsei cannot even accommodate augmentations of research facilities for professors or classrooms and living space for students. Additionally, the school stated that shower rooms cannot simply be installed unlike other facilities, since it requires a separate wastewater treatment system. 

   Laborers currently receive welfare benefits from the school, such as ₩600,000 in holiday allowances, assistance regarding health check-ups and meals, and annual leave guarantees. Moving forward, the school wishes to negotiate on "more reasonable requests that are focused on improving working conditions, rather than ones incessantly demanding for a uniform increase in wages."

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   Workers unionized ten years ago to protest low wages, poor working conditions, and neglected rights. While conditions have improved over the decade, it is unlikely for the struggle between workers and the university administration to be resolved in the near future. Under such circumstances, the student community can only keep a keen eye on the persisting clashes and hope for a prompt agreement.